SFI Small Lands Group Certification Module achieves PEFC endorsement

Stakeholders are invited to give feedback on the enquiry draft for Emission Data Transfer – Requirements. This draft document is an attempt to outline requirements for a strictly voluntary mechanism for the transfer of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission related data along the PEFC certified supply chain. Stakeholders have until the 4 April 2016 to submit their feedback. The use of the PEFC framework to transfer GHG emission related data along the supply chain has been the subject of increasing interest among the bioenergy sector and other industry sectors processing forest-based materials in recent years.

On August 16, OPI published on its opinion page a piece titled “The Sustainable Argument for Going Paperless” in which an executive from DocuWare, a document management and workflow software company, asserted with no factual evidence that electronic communication and document management are more environmentally sustainable than using paper. Among other claims, he wrote: “Reducing paper usage offers significant environmental benefits, such as leaving a lighter environmental footprint by conserving forests. Forest loss harms wildlife and increases soil erosion. Meanwhile, paper production, which also relies on chemicals and water – emits greenhouse gas emissions.” Is going digital really more environmentally sustainable than using paper? Your readers were recently warned (“The sustainable argument for going paperless,” August 16, Benedikt Dischinger) that there is a “Code Red for Humanity” caused by human-caused climate change, and that one response to this legitimate threat to the future of humankind is…use less paper. What Mr. Dischinger wants us to believe is that we should toss overboard the only form of communication rooted in a truly circular paper industry that relies on biobased energy, an infinitely renewable resource and some of the highest recycling rates in favor of more electronic communication, which is rooted in an industry that scours the planet for finite rare earths and other diminishing resources, relies almost exclusively on fossil fuels to meet its increasingly greedy demands for energy, and features embarrassing recycling rates.

North Carolina State University is investigating the crucial role that SFI-certified forests play in facilitating landscape connectivity in a changing climate. Landscape connectivity represents the extent to which a landscape supports the ability of plants and animals to move across the landscape. Some species with a limited range, like salamanders or pitcher plants, depend on connected landscapes to maintain healthy populations. Connecting habitats has long been recognized as one of the keys to supporting conservation in landscapes dominated by people. But rapid changes to the earth’s climate and land use patterns mean new research is needed to ensure that conservation potential is maximized, while mitigating climate change impacts and limiting the loss of biodiversity.